After more than a month of anxious speculation, Merritt and I recently got some good news about a site and work assignments. After hearing some sketchy details when we first found out about our placement to Tanzania, on Monday we learned that Merritt will be working, as a Peace Corps volunteer, for a government organization that is co-funded by the U.S. CDC Global Health Department and the Tanzanian Ministry of Health – where she'll be teaching public health trainers and developing public health training programs, largely in the field of HIV/AIDS education. It all sounds very interesting, and I am really excited for her. Apparently it's a new cooperative venture for the Peace Corps Tanzania, and Merritt was specially requested to be sent here for the job.
It also means that we'll not have the typical Peace Corps experience, as we will be living in a town rather than some small village, with to our surprise, running water and electricity. The two possible towns are Mbeya and Mtwara, which are both in southern Tanzania, the first high up in the mountains (approx. 5,600’) and known to be the coldest spot in the country, and the latter on the coast, slightly smaller, and considerably hotter.
Mbeya has about 270,000 residents and is known as a key transportation and trading center, with the Tanzam Highway and Tanzara Railway running through the town, and located near Tanzania's boarders with Zambia and Malawi. Though described as a “bustling” and “scruffy” town, it's also apparently “highly scenic,” given its location in a gap between the Mbeya and Poroto Mountains. Coffee, tea, chocolate, and bananas are all grown in the region.
Mtwara, on the other hand, is located near the boarder with Mozambique, and is smaller in population (around 70,000). Apparently the town was originally a small fishing port, but the infrastructure was greatly expanded after World War II, by the British, as part of an effort to develop the local groundnut oil industry. Though the venture largely failed, the region has had somewhat of a recent revival, thanks to the tourism industry.
Merritt and I will be sent to one of these towns, another trainee, who worked as a nurse in the U.S., will be sent to the other. The decision will largely hinge, it seems, on what kind of job they can find for me. The Peace Corps’ Tanzanian Program is not really designed to work at the town-level, being almost exclusively based at the village level. And the Peace Corps country staff, when they learned that they were getting two special health trainees, did not actually know that one of them was married and would be accompanied by her husband. So it seems like that it has been somewhat of a scramble to find an assignment for me, but the good news is that I may also be working with an NGO and perhaps using my legal background to some degree.
One possibility, which I have expressed strong interest in, is working in Mtwara in the area of fisheries and marine resource management. There is a newly designated marine reserve just off the coast, the Mnazi Bay-Ruvumu Estuary Marine Park, which could be a good source for potential projects for me, but the director of the Peace Corps environmental program here in Tanzania needs to find a counterpart with whom I can work, so it still remains up in the air. Either way, Merritt feels it will work out well for us, and we’re both really excited about her assignment, and
hopeful about mine.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Well, a month into training, and a month to go. Merritt and I are excited to learn where exactly we’ll be stationed for the next two years, and to finally get there. Training has been a challenge, with the intense language work, the administrative bureaucracy that exists even with the Peace Corps all the way here in Tanzania, and with adapting to a vastly different culture. Our host family is very kind and welcoming, but the differences nevertheless exist and we have tried hard to bridge the gulf between us. Not being able to really communicate is the most challenging and frustrating. While I am glad to have the home stay experience, I feel that it would be more valuable if I had learned more Kiswahili prior to arriving. My host “Baba” speaks decent English, though I hate to make him work hard, particularly after he’s worked a long day at his shamba(farm), but the conversations we have after dinner, in what I’ve come to call “Swanglish,” have been really enlightening – learning about the economics of orange farming here in the Tanga Region, marriage customs in Tanzania, the superstitions surrounding albinos, the history of the village, and his work as a sub-village elder. But if I could speak even passable Kiswahili, I could really learn a lot from this experience. Having essentially no language skills, beyond basic survival Kiswahili, means I can only hold the most basic of conversations before I am at the end of my abilities, even after a month of language classes. It’s not that hard a language to learn, grammatically speaking, but the vocabulary makes it like learning Chinese or Arabic – there are a few English-derived words, but other the rest is a syllabic “shagalabagala” – with the entire language seemingly based around the hundred or so possible consonant-vowel combinations. So learning vocab, which grammar aside,is the basis of any conversation, is a slow and challenging process.
But Merritt and I are slowly getting a grasp on the language, and feel, after some uncertainty, as though we will eventually be able to master the language, though it will probably take a year or so, if we work at it. We had our mid-training exams on Friday, and we both feel like we did reasonably well.
The best part about reaching the midway point of training is that it means we get to take a break this weekend, so I am writing this from the beautiful seaside resort of Mkoma Bay, just north of the small village of Pangani, which is about 55 kilometers south of the town of Tanga. Owned by a couple, one of whom happens to be a former Peace Corps volunteer and the other a Dutch ex-pat, Mkoma Bay is a mid-range resort with a dozen or so raised tents, a half dozen stone “bandanas” and one large house with three real bedrooms, but which can sleep many more. Forty of our Peace Corps training group, all except one loner, have rented the entire resort, with the help of the owner’s generosity (and what now seems their likely relief to have the business). With kayaks and bikes, and a bar and pool on a small cliff overlooking the Indian Ocean, the place seems a million miles from our “vijiji” (i.e., villages), and is a welcome relief from what has been a pretty intense first month of language and cultural training.
Our first night here, after arriving at sunset, our group quickly made there way down to the beach for a night swim in the Indian Ocean, my first time in its warm, salty waters. As the stars came out, I learned that the constellation I’ve been confused about for a month is actually the Southern Cross. After coming up from the beach, we found dinner waiting for us, on the deck next to the pool, where the stars looked even brighter.
While the resort’s bar is overpriced, they are kind of skimping on the food, and the internet is not anywhere close to what I’d hoped for, we’re a happy lot, and some of us our already dreading the idea of returning to our home stays.
But with a month of training left, one week of which will be spent on shadow, it seems like the end is insight, and soon we can have the kind of personal freedom that this weekend is really reminding us that we’re missing. Just getting to wake up with an entire unplanned day before me made me realize what’s been the most difficult part of
training.
But Merritt and I are slowly getting a grasp on the language, and feel, after some uncertainty, as though we will eventually be able to master the language, though it will probably take a year or so, if we work at it. We had our mid-training exams on Friday, and we both feel like we did reasonably well.
The best part about reaching the midway point of training is that it means we get to take a break this weekend, so I am writing this from the beautiful seaside resort of Mkoma Bay, just north of the small village of Pangani, which is about 55 kilometers south of the town of Tanga. Owned by a couple, one of whom happens to be a former Peace Corps volunteer and the other a Dutch ex-pat, Mkoma Bay is a mid-range resort with a dozen or so raised tents, a half dozen stone “bandanas” and one large house with three real bedrooms, but which can sleep many more. Forty of our Peace Corps training group, all except one loner, have rented the entire resort, with the help of the owner’s generosity (and what now seems their likely relief to have the business). With kayaks and bikes, and a bar and pool on a small cliff overlooking the Indian Ocean, the place seems a million miles from our “vijiji” (i.e., villages), and is a welcome relief from what has been a pretty intense first month of language and cultural training.
Our first night here, after arriving at sunset, our group quickly made there way down to the beach for a night swim in the Indian Ocean, my first time in its warm, salty waters. As the stars came out, I learned that the constellation I’ve been confused about for a month is actually the Southern Cross. After coming up from the beach, we found dinner waiting for us, on the deck next to the pool, where the stars looked even brighter.
While the resort’s bar is overpriced, they are kind of skimping on the food, and the internet is not anywhere close to what I’d hoped for, we’re a happy lot, and some of us our already dreading the idea of returning to our home stays.
But with a month of training left, one week of which will be spent on shadow, it seems like the end is insight, and soon we can have the kind of personal freedom that this weekend is really reminding us that we’re missing. Just getting to wake up with an entire unplanned day before me made me realize what’s been the most difficult part of
training.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
We have been living with our new host family for 4 days now and I have to say that life is sooooo much different than it used to be. I'm not even sure where I should begin!
I will walk you through the typical day...
We wake up when the rooster outside our bedroom window crows (around 5:30 am). The women in the house do all the work so our 'mama' is already up at this time sweeping the courtyard. I put my earplugs in and try to sleep for another 30 minutes. Right when I get up, I sweep our room and then its off the the 'Choo' to take a bucket bath. To walk to the choo I have to wear a Khanga, basically it is 2 pieces of cloth that look like 2 giant bandanas, one is tied around the waist and the other is worn over my shoulders. The women here wear these Khangas everywhere. The choo is right outside and basically it is a cement rectangular room that has a hole in the ground (where everyone goes to the bathroom) and then it has a little area to hang your khanga as you take a bucket bath.
Surprisingly I really like bucket baths... my 'mama' or 'dada'(swahili for sister) will bring me a big bucket of water that has a small pitcher in it, and basically you just take a shower, using the pitcher to drizzle the water over your head. Short hair definitely makes the bucket bath quick and easy. Moss takes his bucket bath after me and then we have 'Chai'/breakfast together before school.
The first two days we each got 5 pieces of white bunny bread covered in butter for breakfast...Not my favorite, but bread is considered a nice breakfast by Tanzanian standards, because it is a manufactured product that is not easy to come by as there are no ovens around here. This morning we each got a huge plate of pasta with one hardboiled egg on top. It was actually pretty tasty. Oh and I forgot to mention that we eat with our hands! No silverware for us! And even more tricky is the fact that you are only allowed to eat with your right hand...it's not an easy task! Cracking and peeling a hard boiled egg this morning with one hand was pretty funny.
The reason for this one hand craziness is that they reserve their left hand for the bathroom only...that's right...they don't have toilet paper so they use water and their hand when they go to the bathroom. So their left hand is basically off limits for everything else. Moss and I stocked up on T.P. so we haven't had to experience this part of the Tanzanian culture.
So, after chai/breakfast we walk to school - the first day our baba (kiswahili for father) walked us to school, and the next day our mama walked us to school. On the way to school we greet and talk to almost everyone we see. We are at school learning kiswahili from 8am to 4:00/4:30pm. Moss and I are in separate language classes, but we are still right next door to each other. We each have 4 other people in our class and then all ten of us have a chai break together at 10am and then a lunch break at 12:30. Durning Chai we are served chapati and fried bread, and then lunch is normally rice and beans. After school we all walk home together and an army of kids follow us everywhere. There is a group of about 30 kids following our every move... it's a funny site. Whenever we talk to them in kiswahili, they just laugh and laugh....
When Moss and I get home we either play soccer with our kakas(brothers) or cook with our mama and dadas (sisters). Our family has 7 kids, 3 girls and 4 boys whose ages range from 2 to 16. Their names are Mwanshamba, Fatuma, Mwanaidi, Jango, Afizi, Kasimu, and Yusuph. The kids here are so well behaved... it just amazes me. They have very little, yet they are incredibly happy, kind, and helpful.
Oh, I forgot to mention the fact that all the cooking takes place outside in an open tinshed on a small 'jiko' which is simply a circle of rocks that prop up the pot or pan with wood burning beneath it. It amazes me that our mama can cook so many different meals on rocks and wood.
After playing, cooking, or studying, we each take another bucket bath, and then its time for our dinner which is always an interesting experience. Our baba(father), Moss, and I all eat together at a small table in the front sitting room, while our 4 brothers sit on the floor next to us and eat off of one big communal plate. Sadly our 3 sisters and mama eat on the floor in a small bedroom. In the Islamic culture the men and the women do not eat together, but I guess since I am a guest they make an exception to this rule. I asked our baba if I could go eat with the girls and he said "kesho, baadaye" which means tomorrow or later/another day... but he has avoided the topic ever since I asked. It really amazes me how strong the gender roles are in Tanzania. The women work their butt off all day long to wait on and serve the men... I'm so glad I was born in America!
After dinner Moss and I head to our room to study and we are normally in bed by 10pm...
So that's a typical day for us here in Tanzania.... it's definitely different, but all and all things are going really well and I am loving this experience. I do miss you all. XOXOX
I will walk you through the typical day...
We wake up when the rooster outside our bedroom window crows (around 5:30 am). The women in the house do all the work so our 'mama' is already up at this time sweeping the courtyard. I put my earplugs in and try to sleep for another 30 minutes. Right when I get up, I sweep our room and then its off the the 'Choo' to take a bucket bath. To walk to the choo I have to wear a Khanga, basically it is 2 pieces of cloth that look like 2 giant bandanas, one is tied around the waist and the other is worn over my shoulders. The women here wear these Khangas everywhere. The choo is right outside and basically it is a cement rectangular room that has a hole in the ground (where everyone goes to the bathroom) and then it has a little area to hang your khanga as you take a bucket bath.
Surprisingly I really like bucket baths... my 'mama' or 'dada'(swahili for sister) will bring me a big bucket of water that has a small pitcher in it, and basically you just take a shower, using the pitcher to drizzle the water over your head. Short hair definitely makes the bucket bath quick and easy. Moss takes his bucket bath after me and then we have 'Chai'/breakfast together before school.
The first two days we each got 5 pieces of white bunny bread covered in butter for breakfast...Not my favorite, but bread is considered a nice breakfast by Tanzanian standards, because it is a manufactured product that is not easy to come by as there are no ovens around here. This morning we each got a huge plate of pasta with one hardboiled egg on top. It was actually pretty tasty. Oh and I forgot to mention that we eat with our hands! No silverware for us! And even more tricky is the fact that you are only allowed to eat with your right hand...it's not an easy task! Cracking and peeling a hard boiled egg this morning with one hand was pretty funny.
The reason for this one hand craziness is that they reserve their left hand for the bathroom only...that's right...they don't have toilet paper so they use water and their hand when they go to the bathroom. So their left hand is basically off limits for everything else. Moss and I stocked up on T.P. so we haven't had to experience this part of the Tanzanian culture.
So, after chai/breakfast we walk to school - the first day our baba (kiswahili for father) walked us to school, and the next day our mama walked us to school. On the way to school we greet and talk to almost everyone we see. We are at school learning kiswahili from 8am to 4:00/4:30pm. Moss and I are in separate language classes, but we are still right next door to each other. We each have 4 other people in our class and then all ten of us have a chai break together at 10am and then a lunch break at 12:30. Durning Chai we are served chapati and fried bread, and then lunch is normally rice and beans. After school we all walk home together and an army of kids follow us everywhere. There is a group of about 30 kids following our every move... it's a funny site. Whenever we talk to them in kiswahili, they just laugh and laugh....
When Moss and I get home we either play soccer with our kakas(brothers) or cook with our mama and dadas (sisters). Our family has 7 kids, 3 girls and 4 boys whose ages range from 2 to 16. Their names are Mwanshamba, Fatuma, Mwanaidi, Jango, Afizi, Kasimu, and Yusuph. The kids here are so well behaved... it just amazes me. They have very little, yet they are incredibly happy, kind, and helpful.
Oh, I forgot to mention the fact that all the cooking takes place outside in an open tinshed on a small 'jiko' which is simply a circle of rocks that prop up the pot or pan with wood burning beneath it. It amazes me that our mama can cook so many different meals on rocks and wood.
After playing, cooking, or studying, we each take another bucket bath, and then its time for our dinner which is always an interesting experience. Our baba(father), Moss, and I all eat together at a small table in the front sitting room, while our 4 brothers sit on the floor next to us and eat off of one big communal plate. Sadly our 3 sisters and mama eat on the floor in a small bedroom. In the Islamic culture the men and the women do not eat together, but I guess since I am a guest they make an exception to this rule. I asked our baba if I could go eat with the girls and he said "kesho, baadaye" which means tomorrow or later/another day... but he has avoided the topic ever since I asked. It really amazes me how strong the gender roles are in Tanzania. The women work their butt off all day long to wait on and serve the men... I'm so glad I was born in America!
After dinner Moss and I head to our room to study and we are normally in bed by 10pm...
So that's a typical day for us here in Tanzania.... it's definitely different, but all and all things are going really well and I am loving this experience. I do miss you all. XOXOX
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Morning Run
Fresh back from a morning run out to the neighboring town of Lina – about 3 miles one-way. Merritt and I have taken up running before sunrise with one of the other Peace Corps trainees, a woman our age from San Francisco named Dana. As an alternative to stumbling over the clay-packed, rutted trails in village, we have started to run out past the Ministry of Agricultural Training Institute (MATI), where the Peace Corps group classes are held once a week, taking a left at the split in the road, where the local Roman Catholic Church is located, and down into and up the other side of the valley that runs back towards the way we came.
On the ridge at the other side of the valley, the small town of Lina is comprised of a dozen or so buildings, and another half dozen in the process of being built. When we arrive in town, we’re hailed with “habari” by the villagers out sweeping around their house. From the little crest on which their village sits, one can see into the next valley, and out towards Muheza and Amani Nature Preserve, which encompasses a lone mountain ridge that represents the easterly extent of the Usambara Mountains, which are a part of Tanzanian’s Eastern Arc Mountains. Turning around,one can see east towards the flats that stretch out to the Indian Ocean. By the time we are coming back into Kijiji Mkanyageni, the sun is just coming up, marking the begin to another day in our life as transplant Tanzanians.
On the ridge at the other side of the valley, the small town of Lina is comprised of a dozen or so buildings, and another half dozen in the process of being built. When we arrive in town, we’re hailed with “habari” by the villagers out sweeping around their house. From the little crest on which their village sits, one can see into the next valley, and out towards Muheza and Amani Nature Preserve, which encompasses a lone mountain ridge that represents the easterly extent of the Usambara Mountains, which are a part of Tanzanian’s Eastern Arc Mountains. Turning around,one can see east towards the flats that stretch out to the Indian Ocean. By the time we are coming back into Kijiji Mkanyageni, the sun is just coming up, marking the begin to another day in our life as transplant Tanzanians.
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